Everyone has arrived and we are headed to Bahía Ballena now!
July 8, 2017
Written by Octavia and Tina
Our first full day in Bahía Ballena was anything but boring. We started out the morning with the lovely wake up call at 6! We devoured a breakfast that consisted of fruit, toast, and rice & beans of course!
After covering ourselves in sunscreen, we hit the beach to start our surfing journey. Somewhere great at surfing right away while others mastered the art of wiping out (Megan & Tina!).
We even learned a Costa Rican dance called the stingray shuffle. We soon tracked back to homebase to eat a lunch that consisted of burritos, rice & beans, and amazing sweet tea!
This Millfield us as we headed to town to engage in service activities. As we picked up trash around town and created wooden signs with environmental messages, we all realize the importance of creating awareness about the consequences of littering. After service we headed to town to play soccer with the locals. They were so friendly and welcoming, but they weren’t afraid about showing us up! Soccer was an activity that really united the group.
July 9
We kicked the day off with a fried cheese breakfast. Later, we had the chance to learn how to kite board and surf. The day consisted mostly of pool surfing, yet Colin constantly reassured us that this was a necessary step in the progression towards becoming Kelly Slater (11 time surfing world champion). After a tasty lunch consisting of even more chicken, we moved to the beach, where Ptufo taught us kite boarding basics and safety. After the skills were taught and the lingo was memorized, the group continued their body surfing extravaganza. Returning to shore with trunks full of sand and Josh with a crab clung to his nipple, we retired to the ecolodge exhausted. Day 3: a success.
Over and out,
-Cassandra and Mac
By Megan & Marco
Today was a wild ride to say the least. We started out with an average Costa Rican breakfast at 6:30 sharp. At about 7:30 we boarded two vans that took us about an hour and a half away to go whitewater rafting!
Unlike whitewater rafting in in the States, most of us thought it to be much more relaxed in rules, though they were prepared with a safety crew.
Giving each person a chance to ride in the very front, this inevitably lead to numerous wipeouts-all in good fun of course!
After a few rapids we stopped to eat or snack. The guys collected huge leaves on the way to our destination for us to use as plates! Our snack had pineapple (as usual) and fresh guacamole with chips! ¡Muy delicioso! We floated and road a few more rabbits until we came across a waterfall. The waterfall area seems so surreal, which cost us all to immediately rushed underneath it! After we left the waterfall the road a few more rapids in the part of for lunch. Lunch was amazing! On our way back to homebase one of our vans broke down which forced us all to pile into one van for about 3 miles!
We ended our day with a refreshing yoga class led by an amazing instructor. We finally ate dinner and watched – some slept through – a very interesting movie about the pollution of plastic in our oceans. The day was definitely an adventure and we all can’t wait for tomorrow!
By Megan & Marco
Day 6
We started the morning with breakfast at 6:30. Following that and sunscreening, we got ready to go down to the beach. We had our third surf lesson and it was a blast! We worked on paddling out to bigger and better waves.
After surfing, we went back to Bodhi Surf (homebase) for a delicious lunch. Then we got ready to go to our first service with the kids. After a 10 minute cab ride, we arrived where the kids were camping. We played a name game and then help them put up their tents. We played with them until we left at 9:00.
The time with them consisted of fun and tiring soccer, crazy running around, lots and lots of piggyback rides, passing the frisbee, and playing with the jump rope. Later when it started to rain, we played in the mud and had mud fights. We all painted little cardboard surfboards before returning outside for more play time. Before we knew it, it was time for a dinner of chicken and rice, chips, and iced tea. After everyone finished, we played in the rain while the staff was making a dessert of s’mores.
We then said “¡Hasta mañana!” and headed back to Bodhi Surf. Once we were back around 9 we fell asleep right away after an amazing day.
By Kaia & Ezra